Alchornea latifolia Sw.

Achiotillo (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Malpighiales > Euphorbiaceae > Alchornea

Characteristics

Tree ca 5-15 m high; twigs glabrous. Leaves coriaceous; petioles nearly or quite glabrous, mostly 2-5 cm long; stipules very inconspicuous; blades ovate or elliptic, typically 8-20 cm long, 3-8 cm broad (to 30 X 20 cm on sprout-shoots), completely glabrate except for scattered stellate hairs beneath and barbate tufts of long hair in axils of major veins, foliar glands usually 2-4, near base on upper side and often paired on lower side, the major veins ca 5-8 on a side, the basal ones strongly raised beneath, extending nearly or quite half the blade length, the veinlets forming an irregular and usually very distinct reticulum, the base rounded to subcordate, the margins crenate-dentate (typically with 11-14 glandular teeth on a side), the apex obtuse to short-acuminate. Spikes axillary; 3' spikes mostly compound, main axis typically 5-15(-30) cm long, with ca 15-25 nodes, the 4-10 lateral axes ca 0.5-3 cm long; 9 spikes simple or with 1 or 2 basal branches, 3-20 cm long, with 8-20 flowers. Staminate flowers subsessile, ca 1.5 mm broad in bud; calyx-lobes 2-4, ca 1.5 mm long or less, glabrous except for a few apical hairs; stamens 8, the anthers ca 0.7-0.8 mm long. Pistillate flowers with pedicels very stout, in fruit ca 1-1.5 mm long and almost as thick, glabrous; calyx-lobes 4, lanceolate, acute or acuminate, ca 2-2.8 mm long, sparsely pubescent; ovary stel-late-pubescent, the styles mostly 10-20 mm long. Capsules usually dicoccous, 5-7 mm long, 8-10 mm in diam; seeds stramineous, tuberculate, ca 5.8-6.3 mm long, 4.8-5.6 mm broad.
Life form perennial
Growth form tree
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality -
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 15.8
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.9
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Moist and wet rainforests, most commonly in openings and in secondary formations.
Light 7-8
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses material medicinal seasoning wood
Edible -
Therapeutic use Pectoral (unspecified), Phthisis (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.
Mode cuttings seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Alchornea latifolia leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Alchornea latifolia leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Fruit

Alchornea latifolia fruit picture by cabrera Olano Juan Luis (cc-by-sa)
Alchornea latifolia fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Alchornea latifolia fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Distribution

Alchornea latifolia world distribution map, present in Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Conservation status

Alchornea latifolia threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:338417-1
WFO ID wfo-0000939231
COL ID BJF6
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Alchornea cyclophylla Alchornea haitiensis Alchornea platyphylla Alchornea polyantha Alchornea similis Alchornea glandulosa Manettia serrata Alchornea latifolia var. islaensis Alchornea latifolia